If you’ve ever seen a tarot reader do their thing, you might have wondered, “Can I read tarot cards too?”
If so, you probably got mesmerized by their skills and their ability to help people deal with their challenges. You were also probably intrigued by the guidance that tarot cards can provide for one’s future.
Eventually, though, your mind might have made up several excuses for why you can’t read tarot. If you asked your friends or family, they might have given you various excuses of their own. When it comes to spiritual practices, this is what people tend to do… especially with practices like tarot that are misunderstood by many.
Anyway, you might still be wondering, can anyone read tarot cards?
The short answer to this is yes. Anyone and everyone can read tarot cards. You don’t have to have special psychic abilities or be from a particular religion to be able to read tarot cards. Other things like gender, creed, nationality, etc also don’t have any role in it.
In this article, I am going to talk about the various things people wrongly consider barriers to reading tarot. This should hopefully encourage you to pick up your first tarot deck and start reading!
Things That Shouldn’t Stop You From Reading Tarot
1) Lack of Psychic Abilities
A lot of people wrongly believe that tarot reading requires psychic abilities.
They might have seen tarot readers in a movie or on a TV show and they might have formed this inaccurate opinion.
The truth is that you don’t need any special abilities to read tarot cards. In fact, there are millions of readers in the world. There are even automated readings available online. Do you think all of them are psychics? Of course, not!
Yes, it’s true that some readers are psychics. But it is absolutely not a criterion to be a reader. When you start reading cards, you will find this out for yourself.
2) The “Gift” Tradition
In the world of tarot reading, it is believed by many that your first deck of cards has to be a gift by someone else.
About a century ago, it was even believed that if you buy your own tarot cards, you won’t be able to learn to read no matter how hard you try. With time, this has been proven to be just a myth. There are millions of readers in the world who bought their first decks. And they’re doing quite well.
Also, if you think about it, waiting for someone to gift you a deck might mean that you will wait your whole life. I am not that patient haha.
Either that or you have to literally tell someone to gift you a deck. So, stop worrying about this tradition and get yourself a deck without any concern.
3) Religion
For a lot of people, religion is the number one barrier that prevents them from reading tarot cards.
They wrongly associate tarot with one of the many religions and so, they feel uncomfortable following it. Some Christians even believe that tarot is witchcraft!
But the truth is that tarot reading is a spiritual practice. It is not connected to any one religion. Just like yoga, you can easily instill it in your everyday life.
In some cases, it is understandable why some people might not want to learn tarot.
In religions like Islam and Judaism, divination is not allowed.
However, you should know that tarot can be used for a wide variety of purposes. If your religion doesn’t allow divination, you can still use tarot for self-reflection, self-discovery, to get insights into a problem, and so on.
4) Gender
This is one of those innocent misbeliefs that a lot of people fall for.
There are many people who think that tarot cards are only for women.
They probably think this way because they might have only seen women tarot card readers, especially in movies, games, and TV shows.
But as is obvious, gender has no role to play in this regard. No matter what gender you identify with, you can start reading tarot cards.
5) Age
Another misconception that a lot of people have is that there is an age limit for tarot reading.
They think that you have to be an adult to start reading tarot cards.
To be honest, I can see why they would think so. Tarot involves some deep philosophical ideas and concepts. It also explores some of the most important and serious aspects of human life like life’s purpose, death, self-discovery, etc.
So, some people might think that these topics are too heavy for children or teens to be exploring. But the truth is that many people start reading tarot cards right from their childhood or teenage years. And to be frank, this is the best age to start reading since the mind is very curious and can absorb a lot of information.
6) Literacy
Finally, we come to literacy which may sound like a practical problem.
Of course, you might think that if a person doesn’t know how to read or write, how can they possibly read tarot cards?
Well, as you probably already know, tarot cards come with imagery on them. Even if you don’t know how to read or write, you can memorize the meaning of each card simply by their image.
This might be a little challenging at the beginning, but it can certainly be done. And after a few months or years, your intuition will take over, and reading tarot cards will become natural.
Getting Started In The World of Tarot
Now that we have talked about the non-existent barriers, let me talk about how you can get started in the world of tarot. Well, to be honest, you can go about it in various ways. But I want to make this simple for you.
Below, I will talk about 4 steps that will not only get you started but also encourage you to keep going. So, let’s dive right in.
1) Get Your First Deck
You can never learn to swim if you don’t step into the water. Similarly, if you want to learn tarot, you need to get yourself a tarot deck. It’s as simple as that. So, leave behind what anyone says and browse online or in a physical store.
Take your time finding the right tarot deck. Most people start with this deck ( I got mine on Amazon)
Remember, you will have to connect with it on a very subtle level. You will need to see it as an extension of yourself.
So, when you’re browsing, see which of the decks you get drawn to the most. If you’re lucky, you might even sense certain deck/s calling out to you. If that happens, grab that deck immediately!
2) Memorize The Meanings of The Cards
There is a learning curve to learning tarot reading (as with most things in life). You need to learn how the cards are structured and divided into categories.
You need to learn about the meanings of each card in such a way that as soon as the card gets drawn, you are immediately able to tell its meanings.
Then, you need to research the rich symbolism that’s used in the cards. This will further solidify the foundation of your understanding.
Of course, all of this can take some time and effort. But be patient and make sure you cross that initial learning curve. Once you do it, things will start to become smoother.
3) Practice. Practice. Practice.
As with any other skill, the more you practice tarot reading, the better you will get at it.
Once you have memorized the meanings of enough cards, you can start practicing. You don’t have to do proper readings or start doing consultations for real. Think of it as doing readings just for entertainment. That way, you won’t have the pressure of being right or accurate.
For instance, you can do a daily or weekly reading for yourself and make notes. At the end of the day or week, you can see whether your insights panned out and whether the tarot cards were of any help. You can also do readings for family or friends just for fun. In doing so, you might start making accurate predictions or giving insights that actually work! This will slowly build your confidence.
4) Develop Your Intuition
As I mentioned above, you don’t need psychic abilities to start reading tarot cards.
However, intuition plays a huge role in the readings. It allows you to understand things that your other senses cannot pick up on. It also allows you to connect with the cards on a whole other level.
Fortunately, intuition can be developed over time.
One of the best ways of doing this is by meditation.
The more you meditate, the more your energies will become perceptive. So, make sure you meditate for at least 15-20 minutes every day. You can also practice mindfulness. This enables you to stay in the present moment such that you can observe things that you would otherwise miss.
